Church Girls

1| strict.

                "Ew, why they dressed like that?" 

              They be like, 'Turn up. . . In that Sunday school."

   "I'ma go to church wearing Nike socks under my pants just in case the pastor wanna get dunked on in the name of Jesus." 

We hated the insults and jokes that the school would daily throw at us. All because of who we are and where we come from. But, can you blame them? We were- in my opinion- the worst dressed teenagers in the school. I stratched at my itchy black tights, under my 30 inch skirt. It was Spring, hitting Summer, and we were dressed as if it was the middle of Winter. "C'mon y'all." Neveah said quietly. There's 4 of us. Not including me. Neveah, the daughter of the pastor at our community church. Angel, the 2nd youngest. Me, Sienna, the 3rd youngest. Portia and Aurora. Neveah and Aurora were both 15. Portia was the youngest, being just turning 14, me being 14 and Angel being 14 1/2. We all come from the same city, Chi-Town. Or, "Chi-Raq." as the teenage boys in our school like to call it. 

We made our way into the cafeteria. Luckily, we all had each other. Or else, it'd be like a scene from Mean Girls, we'd be sitting alone at the table near the trash can. We got in line for our lunch and quickly sat down before all of the students came rushing down. We just wanted to eat, clean up, and probably spend the rest of our lunch period inside of the cool, air conditioned library.  But when when we went to get in line, we were far too late. All of our peers came storming through the doors. Already they were making a lot of noise. The lunch aids shook their heads as they prepared for another hetic lunch period. We just sighed, knowing what was coming for us. 

"Ayo' Sienna, think you can reserve me a pew in church this Sunday?" D. - as everyone in the school calls him - said abruptly. I sighed before turning to face him. "Like you'd ever come." I scoffed before turning around to catch up with the girls.

"Give a nigga a chance. You never know." 

"I do know. Just by the fact that you said, 'reserve me a pew.' you wouldn't and couldn't come. We don't 'reserve' spots in church. If you're ready to give your life up to God, and let Him help you guide you through life, then you'd just come. No reserving." I shrugged.

"Why she sounding like Sista' Thomas?" One of his friends burst out laughing.

"Ain't that Neveah mama?" Another one laughed.

Here we go.

"How about you leave my mama outta this." Neveah walked towards us.

Just then a crowd formed around us. As if we were going to fight. One, they were males. And two, we wouldn't dare.

"How 'bout you go get some better clothes." Bianca Rose, the most prettiest girl in school, laughed. 

"How 'bout you mind your business." Angel joined in.

"Uh oh, church girls gon' wild." Everybody erupted in fits of laughter. I looked around for Portia and Aurora, usually, they'd be standing right here with us. Standing up to them right here with us. I thought they'd went to the bathroom. But instead, I saw them sitting at our table, eating their lunch as if nothing was happening. I frowned a bit.

"Psh please, they ain't gon' do shit. Or else they'd get that ass whipped, not only from me. But by they religious ass parents too." One of Bianca friends smirked.

"They mama gon' attempt to drown them in Holy water as punishment." 

"Probably gon' slap them with a bible." 

"I can't with y'all. Y'all the bid forreal." D. laughed. I sighed and walked away. I was tired of being the only one to stick up for us. I mean, Angel and Neveah joined in sometimes. But not all. By the time I approached our table, the bell had rung. Now, not only had we gotten embarrassed in front of the whole 9th grade, and some 10th graders, we didn't eat. I was angry. Angry at Portia and Aurora for not being there for us, but especially at the way the whole student body treats us. 

"Full yet?" I angrily asked them. They looked guilty, starring at their feet.

"Yeah PORTIA, and AURORA, why y'all ain't come help us? They were insulting the church and all y'all could worry about was eating y'all cheeseburgers." Neveah

"Because NEVEAH, nobody feel like bein' embarrassed all the time." Portia snarled. 

"Yeah, y'all gotta chill with that. It's bad enough we're known around school as the weirdos, religious freaks, gos-"

"We get it Aurora." 

"I'm just saying, we don't need anymore attention towards ourselves. And all it seems like y'all doing is looking for arguments so y'all can defend the church. Just, just, don't say anything. Dang." And then they both walked away. 

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The next morning, I came walking downstairs looking like a completely changed person. Instead of my usual goddess twist I would put around my head every morning, I decided to let my wavy brown hair just stay out. I brushed it a couple of times before making sure it was perfect. I even stole some lip gloss from somebody's locker during gym the other day. I applied that on my lips along with some sandals I took from the lost&found. I walked downstairs. Very confident. I was sure that D. and all his friends wouldn't laugh at me today. No, not today. But the moment grandma seen me she grabbed mama's face and turned it in my direction.

"I hope this is a joke." Mama laughed. Grandma joined in.

"What's a joke?" I asked curiously, preparing to leave.

"This whole get-up you got goin' on. Boy I tell ya, you really had me going there for a minute Sienna. Now, go get dressed so I can take you to school."

"But mama, I am dressed." 

That's when I knew I wasn't going to school dressed in my outfit. I sadly made my way back upstairs, placing on my loose long sleeved buttoned down white shirt, and another long black pencil skirt with my floral slip-in shoes. I put my hair in a tight bun, like usual and wiped the lip gloss from my mouth. 

"Better." She spat.

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 Sorry this chapter's so short, future chapters I'll try to make longer. 

For all of my Church Girls readers from the beginning, you may have noticed that I've changed the characters, not only that, but I have also changed the story line. Just a little bit. Please pay attention to D. or Daniel, he will be a main, important, character in future chapters. 

;)